


My Dear Sweet Nothing

by siriuspiggyback



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Dehumanization, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Identity, Memory Loss, Past Child Abuse, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Power Dynamics, Recovery, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 12:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19746097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuspiggyback/pseuds/siriuspiggyback
Summary: If your powers are uncontrollable, Sir Reginald Hargreeves will take them away. If your sister is uncontrollable, he will take her away too.A study of dehumanisation and deindividuation.





	My Dear Sweet Nothing

**Author's Note:**

> so i was thinking about the stanford prison experiment, and how the way the psychologists dehumanised the participants were all techniques that reggie also used - numbers for names, uniforms, and assigning roles of power or powerlessness. And then i decided to write this.

“There’s one thing I still don’t get,” said Diego.

Five snarked, “Just one?” and Diego shot him a dark look, but didn’t attempt to fight him.

Progress.

It was the 2nd of April, and the world was decidedly undestroyed. The siblings were gathered, holding a debriefing of sorts. They had spent apocalypse week - the second time around - helping Vanya cope with her new powers, and processing how close they had come to the end of the world. Now, the day of the scheduled apocalypse had passed, and they were breathing a collective sigh of relief.

“What I don’t get,” Diego continued pointedly, “is how this Harold asshole knew about your powers in the first place.”

Klaus sheepishly raised a hand. “That may have, possibly, been my fault.”

“What?” snapped Luther.

“I, uh, maybe threw some of daddy’s files in the dumpster,” said Klaus, and his siblings groaned. “In my defence, I went back and searched when I realised that they were important, but, uh…”

Luther said, “So you caused the apocalypse because you were, what, looking for stuff to steal and fund your drug habit?” 

“That’s not fair,” interrupted Vanya. Klaus blinked in surprise, not expecting anyone to come to his defence. “If you’re not blaming me for it, you definitely shouldn’t blame Klaus.”

Luther looked like he wanted to argue, but no one was willing to test Vanya’s precarious control of her powers.

“Where are the papers? We should destroy them this time around,” said Five.

“Uh,” Klaus eyes flicked to the side. “Ben remembers, hold on.” He sloped out of the room, followed by Five and Vanya.

“Let’s see,” muttered Klaus, digging around for the ornate box. “Ah!” he cried, pulling it out and cracking it open. 

“The book,” said Vanya, “I think I remember it.”

Klaus passed the journal over to her, revealing an envelope underneath. In Reginald’s sprawling hand, it was addressed  _ For Number Five, Upon Return. _

“What the hell,” hissed Five, snatching the envelope and tearing it open. He read, eyes flickering across the page, his young face transforming into a furious expression

“What is it?” asked Vanya.

Wordlessly, Five passed her the letter. Klaus leaned over her shoulder so he could read it.

  
  


_ Number Five. _

_ I assume that by now, you have returned to prevent the apocalypse. In order to succeed, this information is critical.  _

_ You will need the full force of the academy. Only with the combined force of your powers can we be sure the threat be neutralised. As such, I have used my own death to gather you all here. However, this is not the entirety of the academy. You will not remember, but until the age of twelve, the academy had eight members. Number Eight was foolish and stubborn, refusing to obey commands, and as such was sent away to be trained by a colleague of mine. I was not willing to risk her interrupting the running of the academy. I have been assured that she is now compliant. _

_ Number Eight is the secret weapon that you need if you are to prevent the world coming to an end. I have enclosed an address from which you may collect her. My colleague, Mr Bates, will be expecting you.  _

_ Do not fail. _

_ Sir Reginald Hargreeves. _

  
  


“Oh, you’ve gotta be shitting me,” said Klaus. “This is some soap opera shit right here.”

A stormy expression passed over Vanya’s face, her eyes paling. “Allison.” She ran from the room, back down the stairs.

“Shit,” said Klaus, chasing after her. 

Rejoining the others in the kitchen, Vanya accused, “You rumoured us into forgetting her, didn’t you?”

Allison blinked, brow furrowing. She scribbled out,  _ what? _

“Don’t play dumb! Number Eight!”

Allison shook her head, still brandishing her page:  _ what.  _

“Vanya-” Luther began.

“Shut up!” she cried, room trembling somewhat. She startled, the white fading from her eyes, and hunched in on herself, ashamed at her outburst. Klaus, upon Ben’s instruction, patted her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

A flash of blue, and Five was there. He threw down a journal, similar to the one holding notes on Vanya. “It’s true. We had a third sister.”

“But if Allison didn’t rumour us…” Klaus said.

“She did,” explained Five, “but she also rumoured herself.”

Allison rolled her eyes, and started furiously writing.  _ My powers don’t work on myself. _

Five shifted, impatience rolling off him in waves. “That’s what you rumoured yourself to believe, yes.”

“Wait, wait, hold on a second,” said Luther, standing up, “what’s this about?”

“There was a letter for me from Reginald. It says that to stop the apocalypse, we needed the whole academy there, including  _ Number Eight.  _ Apparently we had a third sister, up until we were twelve.”

“What?” said Diego, snatching the letter from Vanya to read it himself.

“But- dad wouldn’t just send one of us away,” said Luther, looking lost.

Diego snorted. “Sure, bud.”

“She was difficult for him to control,” said Five, “so he sent her to be trained somewhere else. Probably to prevent a mutiny.”

“So, now what? We know where she’s living,” said Diego.

“According to this, she’s still living with his colleague, someone called Mr Bates,” Five said.

“And the phrasing gives me some serious creepy vibes,” said Klaus, shivering for effect.

“ _ She is now compliant,”  _ Vanya quoted, voice quiet. “That’s what he said.”

They were quiet for a moment.

“We can’t leave her there,” Klaus said, more serious than he had ever sounded before Five’s return.

“Shouldn’t we discuss this first?” said Luther.

Diego held the letter up. “This isn’t that far. About a forty minute drive out of the city.”

“Are we sure that this is a good idea?” Luther persevered. “What are you going to do, give her a room here? We don’t even know her!”

“We did, once,” said Vanya.

Allison wrote out,  _ It sounds like she needs help. _

“It sounds like this Bates dude is even worse than dad,” Diego agreed.

“Let’s go,” said Five, disappearing in a flash of light. He was probably in the car already.

“Wait,” said Luther, “We can’t all go, there isn’t enough room in the car. Besides... it might overwhelm her.”

Allison and Klaus both raised their eyebrows at the uncharacteristic thoughtfulness.

Allison wrote out  _ I’ll stay behind,  _ gesturing at her neck in explanation. Klaus grimaced.

“Me too,” said Vanya, “In case it makes my powers… y’know.”

Diego said, “I’m going.”

Luther opened his mouth, shoulders drawing back into his  _ I’m-Number-One  _ pose. Allison stepped on his foot. 

“I suppose I’ll join,” said Klaus, “since Ben wants to.” (Ben grumbled, “Quit lying about what I’m saying,” but was only heard by Klaus, who pretended not to notice.)

Luther deflated. “I guess I’m staying behind.” Then he turned to Klaus. “Behave yourself, alright?”

“Mein bruder, you hurt me!” cried Klaus, flouncing out of the kitchen, followed by Ben and Diego.

After a ten minute fight over the seating arrangement - (Diego had to drag Five out from behind the wheel, and Five threatened to stab Klaus for shotgun privileges. Ben was just pleased that they had left a seat for him.) - they were on their way to meet their long lost sister.

Klaus had to stifle a giggle at the thought. Just when he started to think his life couldn’t get any weirder…

Five was flipping through the journal in the front. “Apparently, she had the power to  _ telepathically inflict pain.” _

“Excellent. Because tentacles and ghosts weren’t disturbing enough,” cheered Klaus.

Five flipped through the book until the writing suddenly cut out, and flipped back a couple of pages.

“Does it say why he kicked her out?” asked Diego, eyes on the road ahead.

Five was silent for a moment as he scanned the words. “Christ,” he muttered.

“Don’t leave us in suspense,” whined Klaus, “read it aloud.”

Five rolled his eyes, but began speaking. “Number Eight has progressed impressively fast, and is now able to use her powers on several large mammals simultaneously. As such, today I planned to begin her training on humans. Number Four was chosen as subject, as punishment for the theft of two bottles of whiskey two days prior.”

Klaus began bouncing his leg, a nervous tick. 

“However, she refused to use her power on him, even when threatened with increasingly severe punishment. I suspected that she was considering using her power on myself and fleeing, and as such, I summoned Numbers One, Two, Three and Five. I told her that even if she successfully incapacitated me, she would need to do the same to her siblings in order to escape.

“The child said that she would not use her powers on anyone, regardless of what punishments I inflicted. At this point, the other children began to look unsure. I could see that they were considering her words, and were losing their respect for me. As such, I told her that she would no longer be part of the academy if she refused to train her powers further. She began crying, showing her true weakness, and maintained that she would not.”

“Bro, it sounds like Eight had more balls than the rest of us combined,” said Diego, impressed.

“Can you imagine if we had all stood up to him like that?” said Klaus, wistful.

“Do you want me to read the thing, or not?” snapped Five. When his siblings fell silent, he continued, “I proceeded to send all but Three and Eight to their rooms. Then, I ordered Three to remove memories of the other children from Eight. I could not risk Eight attempting to return for her siblings. I then sent Eight with Pogo to be delivered to Mr Bates, as according to our previous contingency plan (see correspondence from 05.02.2000 to 23.08.2000). 

“Number Three then rumoured the rest of the children, so that none of them remembered Number Eight. Furthermore, I instructed her to rumour herself to forget not only the existence of Number Eight, but also her using her powers on her siblings. Finally, I commanded that she rumoured herself to believe that she was unable touse her ability on herself, ensuring that she would never suspect her memories of being manipulated.

“It is fortunate that the decision to remove Eight occurred now, as I intend to take the academy public next month. I can only hope that when the time comes, Eight will no longer be unwilling to use her powers.”

Five closed the journal with a resounding thud. 

“God, sometimes I think I know just how fucked up out childhoods were, and then…” said Diego, jaw tense. 

“Reginald would do anything if it meant maintaining control,” said Five. “We can only hope that this is the only thing we were made to forget.”

“I feel violated,” groaned Klaus.

“Hey,” said Ben, “do you think that Allison would be able to give us our memories back, if she got her voice back?”

“Huh,” said Klaus, before relaying Ben’s words.

Five said, “I suppose it’s possible. Until then, we can search for more of Reginald’s notes.”

The car slowed to a stop outside an old, grand house. It was similar to the academy, except smaller and grungier, falling into a state of disrepair.

“This is it,” said Diego.

“Well, this is horrifying,” said Klaus cheerily. “We’re definitely getting murdered here.”

“Just murdered? How optimistic of you,” said Ben, smirking.

“Thanks, Ben. Now I feel better.”

“Shut up and get moving,” said Five, “it’s time to meet Number Eight.”

Klaus got out of the car and pushed open the wrought iron gate. It screeched at the movement, sending goosebumps racing up Klaus’ skin.

He had a really bad feeling about this.

  
  


Five jumped ahead and rang the doorbell. Klaus narrowly resisted making a joke about how he almost couldn’t reach. Diego, in what he probably thought was a subtle maneuver, edged in front protectively.

The door opened, revealing Bates. He looked… unimpressive. Not exactly what Klaus had been imagining, with none of the regality that Reginald had carried himself with. Bates was short, with dark hair pushed back, and small features. He had a slightly unkempt air to him - not in the same way that Klaus often did, all smudged eyeliner and wrinkled clothes, but more in a doesn’t-get-out-much way. He narrowed his eyes at the Hargreeves, and demanded, “Who are you?”

“We’re with the Umbrella Academy. I was told that you were expecting us?” Five said primly.

Bates gave the three of them an assessing look. “You’re late.” He opened the door wider, and allowed the three to walk inside.

The interior wasn’t much better than the outside of the house, although it at least seemed relatively clean. Still, the whole place gave off a musty, unwelcoming atmosphere. Klaus itched for something to take the edge off. The old architecture was bringing back some not so fond memories.

“I assume you’re here to collect Eight?”

“Yes,” said Five, taking the lead. “What can you tell her about us? Reginald’s letter was brief.”

“When she first came here, she was… undisciplined. She refused to practice her powers. Despite Sir Reginald’s work, she was incorrigible. We knew that she would have to be trained rigorously if she were to become obedient, and Sir Reginald was clear that she was too dangerous to be allowed freedom, that we would have to do whatever it took to bring her to heel,” said Bates, leading them down a winding hallway.

Klaus saw Diego bristle at this, hand going for a knife, and grabbed his wrist. Diego whipped around to glare at Klaus, who gave him a tempered look. Diego deflated. Since the almost-apocalypse, the two had forged a connection - meaning that Diego was willing to actually listen to his brother, even if he still looked disgruntled as he let go of the knife.

The pair continued on, Bates oblivious to their interaction. 

“It is unfortunate, the lengths we had to go to; she was very resistant, you see. I assure you, Reginald and I took no pleasure in it. The results, however, are… well. You’ll see.”

They came to a stop outside of a door. It was unremarkable, with no lock on the outside, which Klaus had half expected. 

“Now, in terms of managing her. You should know that she is reliant on others in several ways - an intentional part of her training, to discourage any ideas about becoming independent. For example, she must be prompted to eat, to shower. She has very little initiative.”

“I see,” said Five. His voice would probably sound neutral, if you weren’t listening for the undercurrent of cold rage underneath. “Anything else?”

“You shouldn’t have any problem with compliance. She is an excellent weapon - and will be an excellent asset to your cause,” said Bates, sounding almost proud. Klaus wondered exactly how much this man knew - it seemed that their father had been more forthright with this stranger than his own children.

With that, Bates opened the door. 

Inside was small and grey. The only furniture was a mattress on the floor, a blanket carefully tucked over it. There were no windows.

A woman was in the corner. 

She was skinny, but the muscle she did have was toned. Her hair was long and matted, all the way to her hips, and she was dressed in a grey tank top and grey sweatpants, barefoot. 

As the door opened, she hurried to the centre of the room, and dropped to her knees, gaze fixed on the floor, the same way the Vietnamese villagers would when soldiers went in to search the place, terrified, subservient. 

Bile rose in Klaus’ mouth.

“Number Eight,” said Bates, voice flat. “These are your new masters. You will obey them as you have obeyed me. Do you understand?”

Eight gave one short nod. Other than that, she gave no reaction.

“Stand and follow,” he barked. Eight was quick to do as he said, eyes not wavering from the spot at his feet.

Klaus followed Bates and his brothers, feeling dazed. He had expected it to be bad, but in his head, Eight was more like Luther - brainwashed into staying, believing that they had a duty to the person that raised them. This wasn’t just an overly loyal victim of Reginald’s usual brand of abuse. This was appalling. Sickening. He had seen ghosts who were more life in them than Eight.

At the front door, Bates said, “If there’s anything else I can help you with, you know where I am. And good luck.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” said Five with a shark grin, before turning his back and starting towards the car, siblings in tow. 

Bates shut the door.

“Why the hell are we leaving that guy alive?” exploded Diego, marching after his smaller brother.

“Because it’s the middle of the day, and we parked our car right outside. That asshole isn’t worth going to jail over,” grit out Five. 

Reaching the front gate, Klaus caught the cold metal in a death grip. 

And promptly vomited into the weeds.

“Dude,” said Diego, nose wrinkled. 

Klaus spat in the grass. “What,” he said, “the actual fuck.”

“You see ghosts, and your stomach can’t handle that?” asked Five derisively. It would be convincing, if his hands weren’t currently balled into fists. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Klaus, baring his teeth, “I guess seeing a human being treated like a dog is enough to upset my tummy. How weak of me.”

Five exhaled sharply through his nose, nostrils flaring. “Come on,” he said shortly, “we should take her home.”

At his words, Klaus and Diego span towards Eight, suddenly remembering why they had come in the first place. She stood a little behind them, eyes downcast. Expression blank. Ben was next to her, unseen by all but Klaus, watching her with a solemn expression.

The trio of living Hargreeves looked between themselves, all hoping for another to address their almost-sister. Eventually, Ben said, “Klaus, c’mon. Diego and Five are some of the most emotionally repressed people on earth, don’t leave it to them.”

Klaus sighed, but stepped forward. “Um… Eight? I’m Klaus, and this is Diego and Five,” he introduced them, although he wasn’t sure how useful that was when she wouldn’t look at them. “We’re gonna take you back to ours, now, if that’s… cool with you…” Klaus trailed off, failing to garner a response. 

Diego shrugged, and got into the driver’s seat, clearly deciding that this wasn’t his problem. Five followed suit, disappearing and jumping into the passenger side.

Klaus cleared his throat, and opened the car door. “Would you mind- uh, getting in the car?” said Klaus, feeling like a very polite kidnapper.

Wordlessly, Eight stepped forward and took a seat in the car. Klaus swallowed at her show of obedience, but shut the door after her, and walked around to get on the other side, Ben shuffling into the space between them. 

The sound of the car engine starting was loud. Klaus thought he saw Eight startle, a barely perceptible movement, but when he turned to look, she was still, eyes down, hands in her lap. He wondered when she had last been in a car.

Ben said, “She’s really messed up, man. She going to need help.”

Klaus opened his mouth to reply, before realising that talking to thin air would probably seem strange to her, and he’d rather leave the crazy powers stuff until later. Instead, he gave a slight nod, knowing that Ben would understand.

“You should start telling her about where she’s going. She must be scared, leaving everything behind when she doesn’t even know when you’re taking her,” Ben instructed.

Klaus licked his lips. “So, uh- do you have any questions about… anything?” he asked, feeling wildly out of his depth.

Eight gave no indication of hearing him.

“Okay. Okay, I’ll just start talking, then.”

“Yay,” deadpanned Five.

“Well I don’t see you being helpful,” Klaus countered.

“Klaus,” said Ben, reprimanding.

Klaus cleared his throat. “So. Um. I don’t know if you remember us, or the house, or anything, but apparently you’ve been there before-”

“Are you sure you want to get into that right now?” Diego asked from the front.

Klaus glared at him. “I just didn’t want her to be confused if she did remember it.”

“Yeah, because that story isn’t going to confuse her more.”

“Fine. Fine!” Klaus turned back to Eight. “ _ Anywho,  _ so, the Hargreeves family. Let’s see. You’ve already met Five and Diego. We’ve got two more brothers - Luther, he’s this big blonde dude, and Ben. He, uh. You probably won’t meet him yet. Then there’s a couple of sisters, Allison and Vanya. Both sweethearts. And mom, you’ll love her, she’s great. Um, and then there’s Pogo, who. Well. He’s a chimp? But, like… smart. I know, it’s weird.”

Diego snorted from the front seat.

“In all fairness,” said Ben, “I don’t think there’s any way to make us sound normal.”

“Yep, pretty sure it sounds crazy whichever way you say it,” agreed Klaus.

“Still not as crazy as Bates,” said Five.

“Yeah, pretty sure he’s a sociopath,” said Klaus. Then, he turned to Eight and tacked on, “No offence.”

They fell into an awkward silence. Well, Klaus found it awkward - Eight seemed entirely unaware. She had yet to relax from her position, head tilted down, submissive. When no one but Ben was looking, her eyes would sometimes flick up to the window, and there was something hungry in her gaze, but she was quick to correct herself.

Klaus shifted. He hated long silences, and was feeling increasingly twitchy. 

“She hasn’t spoken once,” said Ben, “Do you think she’s mute?”

Klaus frowned. “Hey, uh, Eight. Can you- speak?”

Five turned in his seat to look, and Diego stiffened in his seat.

Eight nodded tightly.

“Okay,” said Klaus. “Do you… not want to?”

A pause. Then, hesitantly, she spoke, voice croaky from disuse. “I don’t understand the question, sir.”

Klaus laughed awkwardly. “Oh, you don’t have to call me sir. The only time anyone calls me sir is-”

“Klaus!” hissed Ben.

Right. Probably not a good idea to make sex jokes around a trauma victim. 

Klaus coughed. “Anyway. Uh, you said you don’t understand? What do you mean?”

Eight’s fingers began to curl around her knees, knuckles pale, until she caught Klaus watching, and laid them flat. “You are my new master, sir.”

Her words seemed to suck the air out of the car. Klaus cringed. Five’s jaw ticked. Diego’s nostrils flared. Ben flickered.

“No, no, no,” denied Klaus, “I’m not- no.”

Eight was silent, still, but Klaus could almost hear the cogs moving as she processed this. She didn’t seem to relax in any way, or give any sign of comprehension. Klaus suspected that she wanted to ask something else, but her mouth remained closed. He knew he should say something, but couldn’t find the words. He was wildly under-qualified for this kind of conversation. 

“Klaus,” said Ben, always the most emotionally intelligent of the family, “She’s not going to ask unless you give her permission.”

“Fuck,” Klaus breathed. Then, “Do you have any more questions?”

“Who is my new master?” she asked, voice thin.

Klaus choked on his words. He wished Dave was here - so sweet and soft and understanding. He would do a better job than Klaus, who had never done anything but make people feel worse.

When Klaus failed to respond, Five said, “You don’t have one. People don’t have masters. That’s slavery, which has been illegal in this country since 1865.”

Eight’s frame began to tremble. 

“Say whatever you want to say,” Five said, blunt.

“Eight is not a person, sir,” she replied, “Eight is a weapon.”

Five let out a slow breath, and then nodded decisively. He pulled a blade from Diego’s holster - ignoring his brother’s indignant yell - and disappeared in a flash of blue.

Eight, for the first time since they had met her, looked up.

Klaus and Diego shared a look through the mirror. It seemed that Bates was about to have a very bad day.

“Five can teleport,” Klaus said conversationally.

Eight went back to watching her knees.


End file.
